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the 6pool; the 4gate; the 2rax.

Murloc decks are the early cheese, the all-in of Hearthstone. Like Starcraft, it's a b*tch to play against, but fun to execute. There's all kinds of murloc decks out there today, but personally I feel Warlock is the most efficient fit. With a murloc aggro deck, the mentality is to draw and play as many cards as possible to end the game as quickly as possible.


Arena playstyle:

None.

The randomness of arena cards makes it impossible to pull off the true power of murloc decks. Murloc decks are molded carefully together, every card is has its place. Missing one of those cards means the threat & power is heavily diminished.

The full set of murloc cards is 17 cards. Missing 1 means 1 less buff to murlocs, and/or 1 less murloc to buff. The chances of even getting 6/15 cards required is quite low. I think my record of drafting murloc in Arena was 8 cards, and that was picking every murloc that came up. Needless to say, that run wasn't very successful.


Constructed playstyle:

Constructed is murloc's true home. There aren't too many 'tricks' to playing a murloc deck. The hard part is building the deck itself, the other 13 cards that synergies with it. Once you've completed 30 cards, playing it is simply about playing everything as quickly as possible.

Warlock's synergy with murlocs doesn't stop at the hero power. The class mechanic of trading hero life for cheap efficient units is a godsend for all-ins. Added with early perma-buffs (Blood Imp), it fills the hole of murlocs having lack of hit-points. Playing warlock-murloc feels like going down 2 class trees, there's your murloc set, and your warlock set. Murloc set being the main DPS, while the warlock set acts as a healer/tank to keep the DPS alive.

There's isn't a right or wrong way to play murloc, as all-in as it is, the deck is still heavily influenced by the player's playstyle.






Murloc cards:

I won't go through all of them 1 by 1 as they're pretty straight forward, but here's what a full murloc deck look like:

2x Murloc Raider
2x Blugill Warrior
2x Grimscale Oracle
2x Murloc Tidehunter
2x Coldlight Oracle
2x Coldlight Seet
2x Murloc Tidecaller
2x Murloc Warleader
1x Old Murk-Eye

I didn't list the crab here, because although it's part of the murloc deck (you need it to get Old Murk-Eye) I don't consider it to be in the murloc family at all. I've tried using the crab in a murloc deck and it felt counter productive killing one of my murlocs for a mediocre buff.

In my version of warlock-murloc, I tend to opt-out of Coldlight Oracle (each player draws 2 cards). My reasoning is pretty simple, as IMO I have a draw craft advantage already with the hero power, I don't want to give my opponents any advantage of clearing the board. Remember early on murlocs are still quite weak to with 1/2 life. It's when it gets to turn 4-5 and the buffs kick in that they'll survive any AOE beating.


Warlock cards:

- Power Overwhelming - Fitting card for an all in. For 1 mana we can deal 4 damage. 2 mana we deal 8. The type of aggression needed in a murloc deck.

- Blood Imp - Worried about those weak 2/1, 1/1 murlocs on the board? Fear no more. With a bunch of x/2+ on the board pre-turn 3, your opponent is already cursing at the monitor. At later turns, a board of x/5+ murlocs is just too devastating.

- Flame Imp - This is an all-in deck, damage we take early on doesn't really matter. by turn 7-8 if we haven't won, chances are we won't at all. Paying hero life for cheap minions is much preferred over discarding a random card.

- Voidwalker - The tank to protect the murlocs. Cheap cost, semi-decent attack for cost, taunt. Yes, yes, yes.

- Demonfire - Buffing the warlock tree of this deck is always welcome. An added bonus of using this on enemy minions to clear is nice too. Remember DO NOT use this on your own murlocs!

- Drain Life - this is a preference card. I've added it in since I lacked direct spell damage to clear early minions. The +life is just a added bonus.

- Hellfire - I know this is an odd choice, since chances are I'd kill all my murlocs with it too. Currently I've taken 1 out, so I only have 1 in deck instead of 2. I put it in for the extra hero damage or taunt-clear I may need when I'm finishing my opponent off.

- Shadowflame - I feel this is very cost efficient as our murlocs are essential really cheap minions, buffed to attack like yetis. Sacrificing 1 murloc to clear the opponent's side of the board is a efficient, favorable trade in most instances.

- Bane of Doom - I took this card out. At first I was trying my luck with the type of demons I would randomly summon, later to realize there aren't many favorable demons to be summoned.

- Soulfire - I use to think this was a must for murloc decks, but after playing around with it I've decided that the discard random card portion isn't worth it. Murloc decks are about playing a rhythm, if that rhythm is broken it could very much mean a lost game. I'm still currently trying to fit these in more smoothly, perhaps to just put them in the deck and use as quick 8 damage finishers.

- Jaraxxus - In my early decks, I put him in. Slowly figured out that by the time he comes out the game has usually been determined.


Neutral cards Synergy:

Any card picked to be in the murloc deck should follow the murloc rules of cheap, high impact, group buffs.

Here are some neutrals I value for murloc decks:

- Raid Leader
- Dire Wolf Alpha
- Leper Gnome
- Loot Hoarder
- Jungle Panther
- Ironbeak Owl

Remember that the murloc deck is an all-in. If you're winning or have won by mid game, there's no turning back. Card draw feels to have a higher weighting on murloc decks compared to others. If the 1st 2 turns are wasted with nothing to play, chances are the match isn't going to end well.


Quick Tips:

The most important thing in playing murloc decks is keeping in mind what kind of power each murloc has, and how the powers are triggered. This makes the order of playing cards important. Generally the priority of action would be:

Murloc Tidecaller > Murloc Warleader > No power Murlocs > Grimscale Oracle > Old Murk-Eye > Coldlight Seer

This isn't a hard rule, but more of a basic guideline.


Till next week~!


mrrraggglhlhghghlgh,
Reere.